Excited to share that our soil microbes & prairie restoration work is featured on the cover of the current issue of Ecological Applications! with co-authors Reb Bryant, Gunner Davies, @lizkoziol.bsky.social, & Jim Bever esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19395582...

Ecological Applications: Vol 36, No 7

<em>Ecological Applications</em> is an applied ecology journal discussing the applications of ecological science research for policy, management, and solving environmental problems.

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🌏🧪🌾🌿 New experiment: Prairie strips supercharged with native fungi (AMF)! Prairie strips already reduce runoff & support wildlife, but they rarely restore AMF. Because AMF improve phosphorus uptake and increase forb diversity, we expect they can make this conservation practice even better.

Know someone who loves fungi, plants, conservation, or science? Share INVAM with them.

INVAM @invam.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🍄 INVAM is launching a fundraising campaign! We maintain the world’s largest living collection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi—microscopic partners that support plant health, soils, and ecosystems. Help keep this unique resource alive 🌱 launchku.org/campaigns/su...

Awesome day filming with @lizkoziol.bsky.social on her arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi research. Inoculation improves floristic quality, diversity, and suppresses weeds!

Temperate grasslands are one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world . We had maybe 200 million acres of tallgrass prairie in North America. This specific prairie is probably 8,000 years old. Just a few of them left at this level.

There is a LOT of attention for soil health, especially in agricultural systems, but there is very little awareness of the value of intact, undisturbed, native soils. Here, I argue that applying the old-growth concept to soils will help their protection. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Visited the prairie park remnant in Lawrence yesterday and found three new england asters flowering. They usually flower ~September. Did I miss summer? What is happening?

The little pocket prairie next to my work parking lot does not disappoint #monarch #nativeplants #echinacea

Breaking news: Indiana University plant microbiologist Roger Innes has been locked out of his laboratory by the school in response to a request by one of his federal funders. The move comes after Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs. https://scim.ag/4tsDqRr

After USDA request, Indiana plant biologist locked out of lab by school

Move comes after Roger Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs

scim.ag

Real-world results from the classroom 🌱🦠🌏 Students grew milkweed with/without MycoBloom fungal inoculant and found: “MycoBloom treated swamp milkweed sprouted sooner and is much taller!” — Lisa Ball, Environmental Club Sponsor, Lawrence High School #Mycorrhizae #Milkweed #STEMeducation

After disappearing from the Milwaukee River in the early 20th century due to overfishing and habitat loss, the new discovery of an adult sturgeon 20 miles upstream from Lake Michigan is a milestone in a massive restoration project that’s been underway for 20 years www.wuwm.com/lake-sturgeo...

Our paper 'What determines transfer of carbon from plants to mycorrhizal fungi?' was one of top 10 most-cited papers published in @newphyt.bsky.social in 2024. Thanks to the research community for considering our ideas and arguments.

Our @newphyt.bsky.social article made the High-Impact Research Collection: Top 10 Most Read of 2025 Meta-analysis: globally sourced commercial mycorrhizal inoculants often fall short nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Mixing prairie seed for a last-minute project add-on and always struck by the contrast: ~50 forb species mostly have compact, intricate, colorful seeds while the 8 species grass mixture is basically clouds of fluff.🌾🌿🌱🌼☁️ Hard to believe a whole prairie can start from a few handfuls.

Ready to supply ~100 cyclists w/seed bombs for our city's abandoned lots at tonight's @wednightrides.org! They contain 6-7 species of native plant seeds to juice up the biodiversity of our city, incl. Ironweed Echinacea Partidge Pea Bee Balm Blue Vervain Blackeyed Susan Swamp Milkweed (sometimes)

We need help keeping the world’s largest living library of mycorrhizal fungi alive. The INVAM mycorrhizal culture collection is at risk due to federal funding cuts. Its loss would be catastrophic. Link to donate: 🔗 invam.ku.edu/donate Read @theguardian.com article: 🔗 buff.ly/hkEGXgu

@invam.bsky.social collection, prairies, and AMF all featured in the awesome article Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing

These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close

theguardian.com

Kansas ranchers, landowners, and others with an active working knowledge of grasslands, the Kansas Department of Ag wants your input on the importance of the Kansas grasslands. I hope my biodiversity and restoration folks chime in! Find the link here: www.agriculture.ks.gov/about-us/kan...

Our controlled burn last week had lots of green in the understory, which made for a super steamy smoke cloud.

A fun set of talks this Sunday at the Baker Wetlands Discovery Center (Lawrence, Kansas)! 🍄🧪🔬🦠🌿 Join us at 1:30 PM for prairie restoration & ecology talks. Helen Alexander will talk about tallgrass prairies, and I’ll share about restoring mycorrhizal fungi—with microscopes & live fungi to explore!

New study from @mvanderheijden.bsky.social lab, showing that many commercial mycorrhizal inoculants are snake oil. So important for this data to be published! Between this, @lizkoziol.bsky.social and Matt Salomon’s work… well I think we make a strong point. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Poor Quality of Commercial Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Inoculants Used for Agriculture and Home Gardening

There is an urgent need to develop microbial inoculants that can consistently improve crop performance as part of efforts to implement sustainable agricultural practices and reduce the environmental ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

The cats approach the jack-o'-lanterns with caution. Step one: administer several investigative smacks.

Such a long, warm fall we have been having, a Rudbeckia hirta starting to flower at the end of October. Crazy

New paper on AM fungi in a prairie restoration experiment planted with community members back in 2021! Beyond the cool results we found, this was such a fun day where so many of my labmates and volunteers supported my first field experiment as a grad student. Feeling so grateful! ☺️

Botanical Society of America@botsocamerica.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Inoculation with native, late-successional arbuscular mycorrhizal #fungi improves growth & establishment of desirable #forbs in low-quality #prairie restoration New #AJB research by @mycorreb.bsky.social & James Bever doi.org/10.1002/ajb2... #botany #plantscience #ecology #biodiversity

Saw this little cutie on my way into the Kansas Biological Survey this morning. iNat suggests it's Basiothia medea, the small verdant hawk moth caterpillar.

I love visiting my AMF inoculation experiments across every season. AMF diversity supports forbs, and floral diversity across seasons keeps wildlife thriving year-round. These New England asters still blooming in October host orange sulphurs, monarch butterflies, and some busy bees!

New paper! I am excited about it, since it has some very cool contributions on: -Status of Invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi -Definition of what is a invasive mycorhizal 🍄 -Cool picture of trees being brought from Europe in 1920! Lead by @nahpo.bsky.social! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi: belowground insights from South America

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are essential for nutrient cycling and plant symbiosis, yet their invasions remain understudied, particularly in South America. Large-scale forestry introductions have spr...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Excited to share our paper on grassland establishment 7 yrs after native #AMF inoculation—showing AMF result in higher diversity + prairie spread into old fields—was selected Editor’s Choice by @femsjournals.bsky.social.🦠🌎 I’ll discuss next week at #SER2025 Denver ! academic.oup.com/femsle/artic...

FEMS Journals@femsjournals.bsky.social · last yr.

🍄 Fungi to the rescue! Native AMF inoculation helps prairie restoration 🌱 by boosting native plant diversity and kicking weeds to the curb (even 7 years later). A long-term win for restoration ecology. 📄https://buff.ly/Uyl6f78 #FEMSMicrobiolLett #Mycorrhiza #Microbiology

I was honored to be an invited speaker at this year’s Grassland Restoration Network meeting! 🌾 I shared our work on using native inoculants to boost diversity in seed-based restorations—and learned so much from the community of practitioners & researchers. #RestorationEcology #Grasslands

Thrilled to see the INVAM fungal collection—and our dedicated curators—featured in the Fall issue of @sierramagazine.bsky.social Preserving the world’s largest library of mycorrhizal fungi to power ecosystem restoration, science, and sustainable ag. 🦠🌱🌍 🔗 digital.sierramagazine.org/publication/...